Reed Exhibitions Gives College Grads Foot into the Industry with Sales Academy Launch

February 12, 2014

In an effort to give recent college grads an opportunity to get their feet wet in the trade show industry, Reed Exhibitions has launched a Sales Academy at its Norwalk, Conn., office.

The Sales Academy will provide intensive training and hands-on development in a variety of sales competencies and will be offered to a total of 20 budding professionals on an annual basis.

“Our business is growing, and a strategic priority is to develop a deep pool of talented staff to serve our customers in North America,” said Joann Bottoni-Jepsen, senior vice president for Human Resources at Reed Exhibitions, Americas.

She added, “At the same time, we understand the importance of job creation in our area and we wanted to provide an opportunity for men and women looking for that open door to get started in a career. The Sales Academy is a perfect fit for all those needs.”

Sales Academy participants will be hired for full-time employment, as well as have a full benefits package and take part in intensive six-month training program.

Once the program is completed and depending on their level of success, they will have an opportunity to move into a wide variety of sales roles at Reed Exhibitions.

With two Sales Academy programs per year, Reed Exhibitions will be creating 20 new jobs in Norwalk.

“Our goal is to offer participants on-the-job training with classroom instruction, self-study and prospecting activities and the opportunity to build a strong relationship with event teams and customers,” said Bottoni-Jepsen. 

She added, “We are currently recruiting for our first Sales Academy class, which will begin in March.”

The selection process will include a full assessment day set for the end of February. 

Academy participants will be introduced to the various industries Reed operates in, including retail, jewelry, pop culture, security, gaming and more.

Some of the shows they will be working on include the PGA Merchandise Show, International Vision Expo East and PAX.

Interested candidates in The Reed Exhibition Sales Academy can apply at http://reedexpo.com/Careers/Job-Search/Job-Search-North-America/ and click on Sales Academy.

Reed Exhibitions runs 500 events in 42 countries and employs about 3,000 people. Its Americas headquarters are in Norwalk, where it employs 350 people.

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